Program Series: New Directors

Nino and Yasmina are born just one minute apart as bombs fall over Beirut. They find and lose each other as children, only to reunite as adults and fall in love for real – seemingly destined by fate. Over three decades, we follow their lives in Lebanon, a microcosm of the country’s turbulent history. The central question is whether love can endure unrest and conflict, whether it is possible to build a family amid uncertainty, and whether hope can survive an unsafe everyday life.

Amoeba follows four teenage girls at a strict all-girls school in Singapore, where grades, discipline, and obedience govern daily life. The newcomer Choo bonds with Vanessa, Sofia, and Gina, and together they begin to test the limits of what is allowed. Using a video camera, they document small rebellions, rituals, and friendships. The film offers a rare and nuanced portrait of Singapore from the inside, far removed from tourist imagery and polished cityscapes.

Medellín, Colombia, 1987: A group of teenage boys steal a camera from a news crew. The camera documents fragments of their fast-paced and dangerous lives – but the result becomes both stranger and more moving than expected. Barrio Triste means “sad neighborhood,” and the film portrays a community marked by violence, poverty, and lost childhood. Hidden within it, however, are unexpected and uncanny forces.

A Hungarian family of six relocates to Vancouver Island in the late 1990s. Through the curious gaze of the youngest daughter, Sasha, we explore a new life in calm surroundings. At the same time, an unspoken tension hangs over the family – something Sasha cannot fully grasp. Her older brother Jeremy struggles with severe behavioral issues that soon affect everyone around him. Drawing inspiration from her own childhood, director Sophy Romvari has created a poetic and beautiful family drama that allows us to see the world from Sasha’s perspective, with an observant and almost dreamlike sensibility.

Annapurna Sriram’s astonishing debut feature is a surreal odyssey packed with absurd situations. Sex worker AP learns that she is cursed – and that the curse can only be lifted by sacrificing a lamb, for the modest sum of $1,000. She sets off on a moped journey through the city of Trashtown to break the spell, embarking on a wild and chaotic ride.

Glorious Summer is an enigmatic and understated film about three young women living in a grand palace where every need is met – but one rule is absolute: they can never leave. Their days are filled with rituals and silence, guided by an anonymous voice giving instructions. Beneath the serene surface, unease begins to grow. The women develop secret touch signals and practice playing dead, believing it may be their path to escape.

19-year-old Rico is a sharp-tongued, street-smart kid from the Bronx, New York. When he tells his mother and sister that he’s going to be a father — and that his 16-year-old girlfriend is moving in with them — life in their cramped apartment is turned upside down. Problems start piling up, and there’s no easy way out.

Summer 1997: Linda and her mother move from her grandmother’s luxurious villa in Switzerland to an apparently ordinary neighborhood in Italy. There, Linda meets Azzurra and Marta. Together, the girls form a close-knit trio, creating their own rules while the adults remain largely absent. Their friendship becomes both a refuge and a space for rebellion.

Set against the weight of its historical backdrop, this Nigerian story unfolds in the 1990s. Brothers Remi and Akin rarely get to accompany their father, but when Folarin must travel to Lagos, he brings them along. The boys carry savings meant for treats in the city, while their father – unpaid for six months – desperately tries to collect his salary. At the same time, Nigeria is plunged into political turmoil.

In a dusty mining landscape in 1980s Chile lies a remote village where a mysterious disease slowly spreads. No one knows how it is transmitted – through touch, through gaze, or perhaps through love itself. One certainty looms: death awaits the infected. At the heart of this suspended world lives Lidia and her family, in a house that was once the center of the community but now stands isolated at its edge.